Friday, 22 March 2013

What is the business case for diversity in the built environment?

There are a number of reasons why considering diversity is good for your
business these include:

To prevent legislative costs,

To reap the benefits of employing a diverse team,

To increase success on public sector tenders,

To create a more supportive working environment.

When considering the business case you really need to think about what
area of the business you are focusing on and what the business case means to
you for example do you value the bottom line, employee retention or
productivity as a priority?

The research is stronger in some areas than others for example women on
strategic boards is an area currently receiving a lot of attention due to the
Davies report and the direction France, Spain and Norway have taken with
regards to quotas. The wonderful catalyst has also been doing great work for 50
years this year looking at the benefits of gender equality.

Yet diversity isn’t all about gender, what about people from different
ethnic and religious communities or those who for some other reason experience
life in a different way to the majority? In construction there hasn’t been too
much research looking at a tangible business argument though there is research
from outside of the sector.

The current research suggests that there is an argument for diversity
when it is well managed and understood. Unfortunately a badly thought through
strategy can have a negative impact on your business which is why I would
always advise clients to avoid undertaking a tick box approach – it’s likely to
cost you more in the long run.

The idea behind the business model is
that you should be attracting a diverse workforce not to predominantly “do the
right thing” or “ensure fairness for all” but in fact to strengthen your
productivity and bottom line. Here are some examples of how diversity can be a
positive to your organisation.

Become an employer of choice.

For minorities in construction, the
support they will receive from their employer is an important factor in
choosing who they will work for. It therefore stands to reason that if you can
promote high retention rates and support services, you will find more interest
from not only minorities but the top end of the workforce in general. A series
of surveys by Target Jobs in 2008 into construction found work life balance and
development opportunities to be the most important factors in deciding upon an
employer.

Improve business performance

Here it’s important to note that the
research suggests that a well-managed group of diverse employees will improve
your productivity and profit in a number of ways which include mirroring your
client base, having a wider pool of experience and creativity and being able to
tap into more networks. But if the group is not well managed, the same
cannot be said.

Change appears to happen at strategic
level when there are more than three women on a board; in fact a US study of
fortune 500 companies found that those with 3+ women on the board all reported
significantly stronger than average profits.

At tactical level research has found
that diverse groups outperform more capably homogeneous groups, which
backs up the theory that different experiences provide us with different
viewpoints and solutions.

Retain knowledge and experience

Research into diversity in
construction suggests that more could have been done to stop the majority of
women leaving the construction industry. What’s more compelling is the amount
of money that could have been saved if we had. A 2009 government report
“Engaging for success: enhancing performance through employee engagement.” put
the cost of replacing an employee roughly equivalent to their salary, once
training, corporate knowledge and intellectual capita are considered. The same
report found that committed employees are 87% less likely to leave their
organisations than those less engaged; they also perform 20% better. Instead of
thinking can we afford to support our staff? Isn’t it time we started to
question if we can afford not to?

Skills Shortage

The latest skills survey from
the CIOB finds 72% of respondents felt there was still a skills shortage.
Without recruiting from the entire selection pool we are not only failing to
meet demand for numbers but also failing to find the best candidates for the
roles available. Increasingly a number of smaller studies have found that young
men are also avoiding construction due to its macho image and male dominance.
In short, to ensure that we encourage the best recruits, we need to offer the
most appealing, diverse and professional environment.

Meet procurement standards and
stakeholder requirements

Public authorities need to meet the
equality duties of The Equality Act 2010 and more importantly, so do their
subcontractors. With 60% of current work coming from this sector that’s big
news for contractors. By being able to align your organisation to the needs of
your client you are putting yourself in a solid position to win more work.

With a large percentage of women and
minorities now making procurement decisions for public sector work they want to
see themselves represented in your workforce, so if all you have to offer is
middle aged white men, it might not be enough.

2 comments:

Chrissy,Very nobel sentiments but I am afraid the 'bottom line' is the critical element. This must be positive or no business of any description. To enable to business to function you need work but I have yet to find the way to pick and choose what work you do. You do the work you can get by whatever means, as astutely as you can and if you can afford some nobel aspirational choices that is fine and may auger well for the future when you would hope to repeat them. But then you are back to what work you can obtain and making a profit.

HI CHRISSY,I THINK THIS SITE AND YOUR RESEARCH IS GREAT AND REALLY NEEDED IN AUSTRALIA FROM WORKING IN CONSTRUCTION, CIVIL AND MINING FOR 20 YEARS COMBINED, I HAVE TRAVELLED, MET FANTASTIC WORK MATES, BUT NEVER BEEN REALLY LOOKED AT FOR PROMOTION, UNLESS I TOOK TIME OUT TO TRAIN AND PAY MY OWN WAY FOR COURSES ECT. SOME USA BASED BIGGER COMPANIES HAVE A BETTER HANDLE ON THIS "THANK-GOODNESS" AUSSIES, CATCH UP WITH THE TIMES PLEASE AND REMOVE THAT "GLASS CEILING" ATTITUDE AND MAKE FOR A MORE BALANCED INDUSTRY.CHEERSJODY WILSON